Dems on FEC want more fines, ‘DEPRESSING’ they are so low

Two Democratic advocates on the Federal Election Commission for stricter regulation of politics are decrying the drop-off in fines leveled by the agency, calling it “depressing.”

Responding to a tweeted chart showing the lower fines against campaigns, Commissioners Ann Ravel and Ellen Weintraub retweeted their concerns.

“Thanks for depicting so accurately what I’ve been saying for years. Excellent but rather depressing chart!” tweeted Ravel.

“Sometimes a picture really is worth 1,000 words,” added Weintraub.

Those comments came in response to a graph tweeted by Dave Levinthal, the senior political reporter at the Pulitzer Prize winning Center for Public Integrity. He is a well-known reporter on lobbying and campaign finance and heads the center’s federal politics reporting team.

The chart showed fines dropping more than half between fiscal 1995 and 2015. Both Ravel and Weintraub have chaired the FEC during that period.

Ravel also retweeted a comment from a campaign finance reform advocate who suggested that the lack of fines meant fewer dollars going to Treasury to fund other programs. “So the FEC’s dysfunction also is costing taxpayers even more dollars in unlevied fines for those violating our laws,” wrote Gerry Hebert, executive director and director of litigation at the Campaign Legal Center.

Democrats have claimed that the fines dropped when Republicans on the evenly-split commission became more aggressive. Republicans argued that they are more open to First Amendment claims and prefer the so-called Alternative Dispute Resolution process.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]